Studies show that 25% of those you smile at will return the smile and of those twenty five percent 10% will smile at someone else. With this information we could start a smile revolution.<\/p>\n
The red shoes make people smile. I\u2019m not exactly<\/em> sure what it is about them (having studied them at length) but I \u00a0know and accept they have an intangible quality that makes many people\u2019s lips curl upward in a spontaneous lift when they see them. Interestingly they don\u2019t have to be actually worn<\/em> for this to happen as I recently discovered.<\/p>\n I was at a jammed packed airport security on my way to California to celebrate my daughter\u2019s birthday. I removed the red shoes and tossed them into the tub along with my bag of liquids and gels. I walked over and joined the line preparing to walk through the scanner. \u201cOoohhhh\u2026.pretty<\/em> shoes,<\/em>\u201d shot through the air.<\/p>\n I looked over. The starched and pressed female security officer was smiling and either talking to herself or the red shoes (not sure which) as she gently repositioned them to stand upright and perfectly side by side in the tub. Now, I\u2019ve been through hundreds of airport security checks in my time and at no time did shoes have to be so specifically situated \u00a0to pass through the scanner.\u00a0 But there they were (with assistance) standing at perfect attention ready for scanning. The security woman, still smiling, watched them make their way all the way down the belt.<\/p>\n I was smiling too as I watched the carefully orchestrated procedure.\u00a0 \u201cMamam\u2026.MAMAM,\u201d<\/em> a male officer was summoning my attention, \u201cplease step<\/em> forward,\u201d <\/em>indicating it was my turn to walk through.<\/p>\n \u201cAahhhh Sorry,\u201d<\/em> I managed as passed security and on to collect my things.<\/p>\n As I slipped the shoes on, a fellow traveler came up beside me, \u00a0touched my arm, smiled and said in a quiet between-you-and-me kind of way, \u201cI<\/em> love your shoes\u2026they\u2019re fabulous.”<\/em><\/p>\n